Art of wort cooling



`Fam. 28, 1941. n. SCHWARZ ET Al.

ART OF WORT COOLING Filed March l5, 1940 2 SheeJts-Sheet l Azam KWZEKFW lo! 10mm mUNIUQD RESA ATTORNEYS `Jan. 2.8, 1941. R, SCHWARZ Egg- AL 2,229,875

ART OF WORT COOLING Filed March l5, .1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ,f' PIPE Hm En FILM 0F WORT FROM DISTRIBUTUR 9|P/E/, 2J E `Il' 5pm-:ABER sPooNs MV* Y I l 2)" wom LEVEL 1.423? z .d

INVENTORS Raben? Schwaz' Fred .Aa'zms' atentecl Jan. 28, 1941 UNITED STATES 2,229,875 ART OF WORT COOLING Robert Schwarz, White Plains, and Fred L. A. Schmidt, Hollis, N. Y., assignors to Schwarz Laboratories Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 15, 1940, Serial No. 324,079

Claims..

The present invention relates to methods for cooling wort at the stage after it leaves the hop separator for the relatively coarse precipitation oi' nitrogenous substances and hop resins, soluble d in. the hot wort prior to yeast pitching.

The invention has as an object an expeditious and sanitary procedure, involving relatively compact and simple equipment, dispensing with the need for tremendous oor areas required for conld ventlonal surface coolers or coolships and the need for air conditioning the room, and yet assuring enhanced speed of cooling and accuracy oi control of the rate of cooling of the wort after separation of spent hops therefrom, for effective ld removal oi' nitrogenous substances and hop resins therefrom by precipitation.

Generally speaking, the invention involves cooling the wort by evaporation in a cycle which includes the passage of clean, filtered air or air 2o rendered germ-free by other methods, alongor across the'path of a flat expanded stream in which the wort is introduced into a closed chamber. Where the cooling after such operation is inadequate, the wort or some of it is pumped in go one or more repetitions of said cycle until the desired cooling has been effected.

The present application is a continuation in part of our copending application, Serial No. Zlli, filed July 13, 1938 for Mechanical cool- 30 ship.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown one of various possible installations for carrying out the several steps of the method of the present invention, l

3p Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view in longitudinal Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a mechanical coolship, comprising a large sheet metal tank T supported on a channel beam foundation IU and having a roof with a central beam 5@ Il, sloping side walls `I2 and inwardly sloping end walls I3. Suspended from the beam II by hangers I4 and' extending longitudinally of the tank and wsymlnetrlcally spaced from the slopingside' walls I2 thereof is a horizontal wort distributor 55 pipe I5, which preferably has an upwardly dlrected inlet elbow I6 adapted to be connected to a hop strainer pump as indicated. The distributor pipe which is preferably closed by a plug I'I at the extremity thereof opposite the inlet has a multiplicity of preferably uniformly spaced 5 downwardly opening ports I8 through which the wort is emitted in its ow from the hop separator.

Near the ports Ill are fixed spreaders or baiiles, constructed and arranged to deect Wort to cause 10 it tol spread or fan out in the form of thin films or flat streams for exposing the relatively tremendous'surface area ofthe two faces of said wort film or fiat stream to the evaporating effect of air in motion, as set forth hereinafter. Desirl5 ably the spreading devices are in the form of spreader spoons carried by the pipe. In alpreferred embodiment each spoon comprises a hanger strap snugly embracing the pipe I5 and is shaped at'its extremity as the spoon bowl 2| the 20 concavity of which extends directly under the corresponding port I8 and slopes obliquely downward so that it serves to baffle the wort dropping thereon and to spread it outward and downward in the desired flat fan-shaped lm.

Preferably consecutive spoons extend alternartely in opposite directions as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, so that in operation the hot Wort from the hop strainer, either pumped or allowed to ilow by gravity into the distributor pipe I5, is spread to flow downward to the bottom in two diverging planes P and P2 all as suggested in Fig. 3. Thus a tremendously large surface area of the flowing wort relative to its volume is exposed'to the cooling effect of air as will now be 35 set forth, for effectiveness of cooling by evaporation.

For supplying the air which serves as the cooling medium, it is desirable to have a pair of air inlet ports 25 and 26 near the opposite ends of 4o the sloping roof of the tank and an .air outlet port 21 near the middle of the tank roof. Air being thus blown through the two inlets, passes along and across the tent-shaped films P and P2 of hot wort dropping toward the bottom of the tank and therefore effects evaporation of some .of the wort with corresponding cooling thereof.

The hot wort flows continuously into the tank T and in such flow is constantly met and cooled by filtered or otherwise germ freed air set forth. `This operation is continued 'until all of the wort has been discharged from the hop separator, at which time it will lill the tank T to a level, usually of about iive feet, but the level may be higher or lower depending on circumstances of operation. While in certain applications the operation set forth may be sufficient to cool the hot wort to the temperature required to complete the precipitation desired in the coolship, the cooling may in some instances be insuflicient for the purpose.

Accordingly the present invention provides means for recirculati'ng all or part of the wort delivered to the tank T to repeat the cooling cycle to whatever extent is necessary to effect the desired cooling. For this purpose a three way valve 32 is provided which when appropriately set delivers from the wort cooler pipe 3i to a recirculating pipe 30. When the latter is set for recirculation, pump p draws wor-t from the lower part of tank T past cock 33 and delivers it through pipe branch 34 to distributor pipe I5. Preferably a short standpipe 35 serves to intercept any precipitate lodged in the Ibottom of the tank T. The standpipe is desirably normally closed by plug 33 connected by rod 31 to handle 38 accessible from the top of the tank for raising plug 36 preparatory to recirculation or delivery to the wort cooler as the case may be. In a preferred mode of operation no further wort is passed into tank T while the wort is being recirculated through the pipe 30 for further cooling.

For further assurance that none of the precipitate is carried oi to the wort cooler, it is desirable to draw off the contents of the coolship tank from near the upper level of the wort therein. To this end a pipe 39 connected at its, lower end Il to a exible coupling is held in elevated posi-tion by the float 4I so that .the 'inlet at the upper end 42 of said pipe is Ibut an inch or two below the surface of the liquid.

Alternative connection from near the bottom of the tank forrecirculation, and from near the top thereof for discharge for the Wort cooler is eiected by mounting cock 33 on one am of a Y-tting 44, the stem of which is connected to pump p, the other arm of said fitting mounting the cock 43 through which pipe 39 discharges. Thus during the time that the wort is being pumped from the collecting tank tothe wort cooler Ithe pump draws from the upper level only, where the maximum clarification has occurred and the likelihood of any precipitated proteins and resins being carried out of the Wort collecting tank to the Baudelot type cooler and from there into the fermenters, is substantially eliminated.

By the method of the present invention, the coarse sludge or flock in the hot wort remains effective to adsorb the finer precipitate that forms as `the cooling proceeds, so that the cooled wort is clear and remains clear.L Were the coarser sludge mechanically broken up in the course of cooling, its effectiveness to carry with it the ner precipitate subsequently forming would be greatly impaired if not destroyed.

While the method claimed herein has 'been illustratively shown as carried out substantially with the mechanical coolship shown and described, and made the subject-matter of our prior application above identied, it will bev understood that the method as claimed may be carried out by resort to any of a wide variety of mechanical coolship installations. It is, therefore, intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our inven-tion, what We claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of treating wort for precipitating nitrogenous substances and hop resins therefrom, vwhich consists in feeding wort without breaking up the coarse sludge that forms therein, by spreading the Awort to drop in thin flat streams exposed to air at both faces `thereof, and at the same time blowing air thereacross for cooling of the wort by evaporation.

2. 'I'he method in which part or all of the Wort first treated as reci-ted in claim 1, is recirculated for repetition of the cycle of operation set forth in said claim, until the temperature of the wort has been reduced to the desired extent.

3. The method of treating wort for precipitating nltrogenous substances and hop resins therefrom, without breaking up the coarse sludge that forms therein by baling the wort to drop within a closed chamber in thin fiat streams of large surface area relative to volume while blowing purified air in the path of said stream for cooling by evaporation and after the wort thus treated has accumulated to a level in the order of lve feet, recirculating part or all of the Wort thus collected for a'repetition of said cycle of operation to bring the temperature of the Wort down to the desired value.

4. The method of treating hot wort in the brewingl art, for precipitation of nitrogenous substances and hop resins, without breaking up the coarse sludge that forms therein by spreading the wort in its ow froml the hop separator as a, thin substantially `continuous film within a closed cha/rn er, blowing clean air through said chamber in contact with said lm and continuing said p'ro'ess until the wort has reached a desired level in the chamber', thereuponpumping Wort from the chamber in a repeated cycle of film flow and air blowing untilfthef'ij ort has been cooled to a temperature of between 160 degrees to 170 degrees F. and thereafter allowing the wort to remain quiescent in the chamber for completion of the desired precipitation.

5. The method of treating wort, for precipitating nitrogenous substances and hop resins therefrom, without breaking up th'e coarse sludge that forms therein by baiiling the wort to drop in a thin flat stream into a chamber While blowing air along the said stream until the Wort has been collected to a predetermined level, discontinuing the supply of further wort, recirculating part or all of the wort yfrom near the bottom of that collected, through the said cycle until the wor-t has reached a predetermined temperature, with 'consequent precipitation therefrom and discharging from near t'he yupper level of the collected wort to a wort cooler.

ROBERT SCHWARZ.

FRED L. A. SCHMIDT. 

